Radio host Paul Finebaum is shown in 2007. Finebaum will be moving to ESPN where he'll do a radio show and make TV appearances. / Rob Carr AP

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

Paul Finebaum, one of the nation's leading radio voices on college football, is heading to ESPN.

"It would be the understatement of my life to say I wasn't thrilled," Finebaum told the Wall Street Journal. "It is incredibly exciting to be part of a new adventure, particularly one that involves the premiere brand in sports along with the pre-eminent conference in sports."

Finebaum had been the host of a four-hour radio show in Birmingham, Ala,. where much of the show revolved around SEC football.

He has been off the air for four months.

It was on the Finebaum show where an Alabama fan called to brag about poisoning the trees at Toomer's Corner at Auburn. "They will die," he said and ended the call with "Roll Tide."

In March, Harvey Updyke Jr., who admitted to calling the radio show, was sentenced to three years in prison for his act.

The Journal reports that besides a radio show on ESPN, the network also plans a 100 TV appearances a year and a simulcast of the radio show on the new SEC Network that starts next August.